Former SC Juvenile Justice director Freddie Pough lands job at state police
Freddie Pough, who resigned last month as head of the state agency responsible for housing juvenile offenders after a rocky tenure filled with disapproval from state lawmakers, has been hired back at the State Law Enforcement Division.
Pough is expected to return to SLED Nov. 2, spokesman Tommy Crosby said.
Crsoby said Pough was hired as a senior special agent assigned to investigative services, meaning he’ll “primarily perform background investigations.”
The new job marks Pough’s return to the agency he worked for before he was appointed director of the Department of Juvenile Justice. Pough was a SLED investigator for more than eight years before becoming the inspector general at DJJ, and later, the director.
Pough’s last position at SLED was a lieutenant in the Midlands Region of SLED’s Investigative Services Department, Crosby said.
Pough tendered his resignation at the Department of Juvenile Justice in late September, bringing an end to his tumultuous tenure. Pough’s departure came after lawmakers called for him to resign over an audit that identified widespread staffing, training and security problems at the agency.
Pough said the report cast an incomplete and inaccurate picture of the agency.
The South Carolina Senate also issued a vote of no confidence in Pough earlier this year. And over the summer, dozens of corrections officers and staff walked off the job protesting low pay and poor working conditions.
Eden Hendrick, a former prosecutor who most recently worked for the Department of Administration, was named Juvenile Justice’s acting director following Pough’s departure. She presented a panel of Senate lawmakers with her plans for reforming the department earlier this week.
This story was originally published October 21, 2021 at 4:11 PM with the headline "Former SC Juvenile Justice director Freddie Pough lands job at state police."
